Tiie  National  Importance 
Industrial  Edueati 


NEW  YORK  STATE  BRANCH 

OF  THE 

National  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial 
Education 


The  National  Importance  of 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 

BY- 

Dr.  Rush  Rhe.es 

ADDRESS  AT 

THE  SECOND  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 
ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.,  NOVEMBER  19.  1909 


NEW  YORK  STATE  BRANCH 


OF  THE 

National  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial 
Education 


The  National  Importance  of 

i* 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 

BY 

Dr.  Rush  Rhees 


ADDRESS  AT 

THE  SECOND  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 


ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.,  NOVEMBER,  19,  1909 


OFFICERS 


OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  BRANCH  OF  THE  NATIONAL  SOCIETY 
FOR  THE  PROMOTION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 

1909-1910 


PRESIDENT 

George  M.  Forbes,  President,  Board  of  Education, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 


VICE-PRESIDENT 

Herman  Metz,  Ex-Comptroller,  City  of  New  York. 


SECRETARY-TREASURER 
Arthur  L.  Williston,  Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 


President,  Vice-President,  Secretary-Treasurer,  ex-officio. 

Frank  L.  Babbott,  Member  of  Board  of  Education,  New  York  City. 
149  Lincoln  Place,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

V.  Everit  Macy,  President,  Board  of  Trustees  of  Teachers’  College, 
New  York  City,  68  Broad  Street,  New  York  City. 

Thomas  D.  Fitzgerald,  President  Allied  Printing  Trades  Council  of 
New  York,  34  Dallius  Street,  Albany,  N.  Y. 


Charles  R.  Richards,  Director  of  Cooper  Union,  New  York  City. 


371. 


"W.  ^ -H-  Oa^GrA- 

■p  J'T'-O'V 


THE  NATIONAL  IMPORTANCE  OF  INDUSTRIAL 
EDUCATION  * 

By  DR.  RUSH  RHEES, 

President  of  the  University  of  Rochester. 

In  accepting  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  of  pre- 
siding over  the  deliberations  of  this  convention,  I 
desire  first  of  all  to  take  occasion  to  extend  the  most 
hearty  welcome  to  those  who  have  come  here  from 
other  parts  of  the  State  to  bring  us  the  advantage 
which  we  inevitably  must  gain  from  their  delibera- 
tions upon  this  question — a question  than  which  none 
other  is  of  more  pressing  importance  in  connection 
with  present  day  problems  of  education.  You  who 
have  come  to  us  from  other  cities,  towns  and  villages 
of  the  State,  are  most  heartily  welcome  for  yourselves, 
and  for  the  work  which  you  represent. 

It  has  been  suggested  to  me  that  for  the  courtesy 
that  has  been  extended  to  me  in  making  me  the  Chair- 
man of  this  meeting,  I am  expected  to  make  a few 
remarks  on  this  subject  of  the  National  Importance 
of  Industrial  Education:  The  topic  is  one  of  such 

breadth  and  variety  that  the  maker  of  the  program 
evidently  thought  he  was  perfectly  safe  in  naming 
it.  The  greatest  wanderings  of  thought  on  the  sub- 
ject may  be  covered  by  the  title.  I shall  ask  your 
attention  to  one  or  two  aspects  of  the  question  that 
seem  to  be  of  importance  and  take  the  risk  of  saying 
things  that  are  perfectly  familiar  and  commonplace 
and  things  of  which  perhaps  you  need  no  reminder. 

It  has  been  our  boast  for  generations  that  American 

* Printed  from  stenographer’s  notes. 

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workmen  surpass  in  efficiency  and  in  versatility  any 
otter  workmen  the  world  around.  Several  months 
ago  while  in  Paris  I was  talking  with  a gentleman 
concerning  problems  of  the  tariff  and  I was  very  much 
interested  to  learn  that  whereas  in  this  country  we 
ask  for  a high  percentage  of  import  duty  on  the  ground 
that  we  desire  to  protect  the  American  workman  from 
the  low  paid  labor  of  Europe,  they  in  France  make 
urgent  demand  for  high  protective  duties  in  order,  as 
they  claim,  to  protect  the  poor  French  worker  from 
the  superior  efficiency  of  the  American  laborer.  It  is 
recognized  abroad  everywhere  that  the  American 
laborer  produces  more  in  a given  time  than  any  other 
laborer  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hence  it  seems 
a little  strange  at  first  thought  that  we  should  be  telling 
of  the  urgent  need  for  industrial  education  in  this 
country  of  ours. 

The  qualities  of  resourcefulness  and  power  and 
versatility  have  been  the  characteristics  of  the  Amer- 
ican workman  and  on  this  we  have  relied  in  supreme 
measure  for  the  superiority  in  business  enterprise 
which  is  our  boast.  Let  us  consider  for  a moment  the 
source  of  those  qualities  which  have  made  the  Amer- 
ican workingman  what  he  is.  In  this  land  there  has 
been  developed  a type  of  man  of  superior  natural 
energy.  We  contrast  his  qualities  of  mind  and  body 
with  those  qualities  found  in  the  laboring  man  of 
Europe  and  find  a great  advantage  in  our  physical 
power  and  in  our  intellectual  quality,  partly  due  to 
superior  strength  of  native  stock.  We  cannot  forget 
the  fact  also  that  our  country  was  peopled,  in  the 
beginning,  by  a group  of  pioneers ; and  who  were  they  ? 
They  were  men  of  irresistible  forcefulness,  surrounded 
by  unfavorable  conditions,  who  had  the  characteris- 


4 


tics  and  the  strength  to  reach  out  into  new  regions, 
and  who  had  the  power  to  conquer  them.  The  Amer- 
ican workingman  is  the  descendant  of  men  who  sub- 
dued the  wilderness  and  made  it  blossom  as  the  rose. 
They  were  men  who  came  here  from  Europe,  men 
of  superior  mind  and  energy,  they  were  men  of  more 
than  ordinary  venturesomeness  and  resourcefulness 
and  alertness.  They  made  up  the  original  stock  from 
which  the  American  laborer  has  been  derived.  In  this 
country,  they  developed  superior  versatility  in  the 
clearing  of  the  forest  and  the  building  of  homes  and 
the  making  of  civilized  life  and  conditions. 

In  the  early  days,  as  it  used  to  be  in  New  England, 
a man  brought  up  on  the  farm  had  to  turn  his  hand 
to  practically  every  trade  that  is  known  in  industry. 
If  the  harness  broke  he  had  to  turn  saddler.  If  the 
plow  was  injured  or  worn  he  had  to  turn  plowright 
or  blacksmith  and  iron  worker.  If  the  wagon 
broke  down  he  must  mend  the  wheel;  and  everything 
else  called  for  versatility.  There  was  no  shop  around 
the  corner.  He  was  compelled  by  all  the  conditions 
of  life  surrounding  him  to  depend  upon  himself  and 
turn  his  hands  to  every  conceivable  task.  This  train- 
ing developed  men  who  had  inventive  genius  in  in- 
dustrial life,  and  men  who  could  adapt  themselves 
now  to  this,  and  now  to  that  task.  Now,  the  serious 
question  for  us  is  this:  what  is  the  present  value  of 
the  reliance  we  have  been  accustomed  to  place  upon 
the  renowned  efficiency  and  versatility  of  the  American 
workingman?  We  have  to  acknowledge  that  the  days 
of  the  pioneer  are  practically  done.  There  are  yet 
some  unconquered  regions  in  the  extreme  west,  but 
that  country  contributes  very  little  to  the  industrial 
life  of  the  nation,  and  east  of  the  Bockv  Mountain's 

5 


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the  pioneer  is  practically  a thing  of  the  past.  There 
is  no  more  of  that  exacting  life  that  called  for  the 
qualities  of  venturesomeness  and  ability. 

Whereas  h generation  ago  the  men  who  supplied 
the  needs  of  the  factory  came  to  the  factory  from  the 
farm,  we  do  well  to  remember  that  to-day  the  work- 
men who  come  to  us  have  no  such  training  as  they  did 
before.  The  life  and  training  they  undergo  now  is 
more  adapted  to  producing  men  skilled  in  buying  and 
selling  than  in  manufacturing.  They  are  no  longer 
of  the  former  sturdy  type  of  men  of  a generation  ago 
who  were  adding  to  the  resources  of  the  country.  And 
finally,  in  this  connection,  in  the  new  industrial  dis- 
pensation there  is  something  which  caps  the  climax  of 
all  these  rather  discouraging  considerations.  For, 
whereas  formerly  a man  went  into  a factory  to  learn 
a trade,  now  the  progress  of  industry  is  such  that  the 
man  is  set  at  a machine  to  do  a task,  and  sometimes 
even  it  seems  as  if  modern  industry  puts  a premium 
on  absence  of  intellect  and  the  man  who  can  watch  his 
machine  with  the  least  thought  is  regarded  more  profit- 
able than  any  other  employee.  Whereas  formerly  in- 
dustry was  a school,  to-day  it  seems  to  be  more  like  a 
prison.  What  is  the  result?  Instead  of  being  a man 
who  can  adapt  himself  to  conditions,  the  worker  is 
narrowed  by  extreme  specialization  in  his  work.  If 
he  is  to  acquire  the  necessary  versatility  to  take  the 
place  of  the  famous  American  artisan  of  former  times, 
where  is  it  to  be  done?  Where  are  we  to  find  com- 
petent journeymen. 

I have  heard  employers  say,  we  have  only  one  place 
to  look  to  for  competent  journeymen  and  that  is  from 
emigration.  If  such  are  the  facts,  is  it  necessary  to 
say  anything  more  in  regard  to  the  need  for  some 


6 


sort  of  industrial  education  which  will  tend  to  supply 
what  is  lacking  in  our  present  order  of  life,  in  order 
that  the  men  who  are  to  be  our  artisans  to-morrow, 
may  have  some  of  the  peculiarities  which  gave  promi- 
nence to  the  American  workingman  in  the  generation 
which  is  past  ! Such  being  the  need,  it  is  not  my  task 
to  discuss  it  from  the  standpoint  of  industry,  that 
task  belongs  to  another  of  the  speakers  of  this  even- 
ing; my  task  is  rather  to  ask  attention  to  some  fea- 
tures of  the  national  importance  of  it. 

We  have  been  a people  who  have  boasted  much  of  our 
common  sense.  We  rely  upon  an  intelligent  people 
as  the  basis  of  our  self-preservation.  We  must  remind 
ourselves  again  of  familiar  facts,  that  elaborate  as  is 
our  system  of  schools  which  we  have  developed,  there 
is  a steady  exodus  from  these  schools  after  the  early 
years.  The  boys  and  girls  who  enter  the  lower  schools 
do  not  reach  the  upper  classes  of  the  grammar  period, 
but  few  of  them  go  into  the  high  school,  and  a small 
fraction  of  those  who  seek  the  high  school  finish  it. 
What  becomes  of  those  who  drop  out,  and  why  do  they 
drop  out?  That  exodus,  as  we  are  reminded,  is  due 
partly  to  economic  necessity,  and  the  child  drops  out 
as  soon  as  he  is  able  to  earn  something  to. contribute 
to  the  family  support.  Another  reason,  more  serious, 
is  the  lack  of  interest  in  study  which  develops  in  the 
minds  of  many  of  the  students.  This  fact  is  coming 
to  be  recognized  as  it  never  has  been  before  recog- 
nized ; for  this  we  give  much  thanks. 

Under  earlier  conditions  in  former  years,  the  boy 
who  became  an  apprentice  did  not  leave  school;  he 
continued  in  school.  He  was  required  to  use  his  mind. 
He  was  compelled  to  come  to  some  understanding  of 
his  trade.  The  succeeding  three  or  four  or  five  years 


7 


were  years  of  such  consecutive,  accumulative  work 
and  experience  that  they  brought  the  boy  somewhere 
and  gave  him  wdiat  should  be  called  education.  I 
meet  many  manufacturers  who  say,  we  have  no  time 
nor  money  to  teach  a boy  a trade.  Such  is  the  pres- 
sure of  modern  competition.  Present  industrial  de- 
velopment seems  to  put  a premium  upon  low  intellect- 
ual attainment.  The  workman  becomes  a part  of  the 
machine.  The  national  need  then  of  industrial  train- 
ing becomes  most  eloquent.  It  is  not  that  our  markets 
are  growing  fewer,  but  our  citizenship  is  growing 
poorer.  The  State  must  soon  do  for  itself  what  the 
conditions  of  life  no  longer  do  for  us,  and  in  this  way 
we  may  lay  a foundation  stone  of  national  security. 

Let  us  look  for  a moment  to  those  who  go  through 
the  grammar  school  into  the  high  school.  Some  go  on. 
step  by  step,  to  higher  things  and  become  the  intellect- 
ual leaders  of  the  community  in  one  or  another  of  the 
professions.  Many  continue  in  the  high  school  because 
they  have  been  taught  an  entirely  artificial  dislike  to 
manual  toil,  and  they  only  swell  the  ever  increasing 
ranks  of  the  people  who  are  seeking  clerical  appoint- 
ment, who  would  rather  sit  behind  a desk  and  write 
in  a book,  or  stand  behind  a counter  and  sell  goods, 
than  go  into  the  field  and  dig  potatoes  or  go  into  the 
factory  and  run  a machine,  who  are  filled  with  false 
notions  that  work  with  the  mind  is  of  a superior  qual- 
ity so  far  as  dignity  is  concerned  than  to  work  with 
the  hands.  There  is  a large  class  in  the  community 
whose  fundamental  attitude  to  life  has  been  falsified 
incidently  by  the  emphasis  that  we  are  placing  in  the 
education  which  we  offer  to  our  youth. 

It  is  altogether  needless  that  I should  say  a word 
here  as  to  the  value  and  dignity  of  commercial  work 


s 


or  the  work  of  exchange  or  the  imperative  necessity 
of  it  in  our  large  counting  houses  and  places  of  gen- 
eral business  in  connection  with  the  progress  of  the 
country.  But  these  industries  must  rest  upon  the 
productive  power  of  the  country  or  they  will  have 
nothing  to  do.  If  we  are  expecting  to  supply  the 
country  with  a mass  of  youth  who  are  ready  to  keep 
books  and  sell  goods  and  are  to  depend  upon  emigra- 
tion to  supply  us  with  people  to  manufacture  the 
goods,  we  certainly  are  placing  a false  emphasis  in 
our  conception  of  the  task  of  preparing  the  youth  of 
our  country  to  elevate  the  country’s  life  and  to  defend 
its  interests  and  advance  them. 

It  is  not  intended  to  curtail  the  efforts  to  prepare 
youth  for  clerical  life,  but  side  by  side  with  that  we 
would  place  the  effort  to  prepare  young  men  and 
women  as  artisans  so  that  they  who  are  adapted  for 
such  careers  may  not  be  switched  off  to  a commercial 
career  perforce  when  they  are  ill  adapted  for  it.  Those 
who  are  adapted  for  it  should  be  enabled  to  follow 
the  career  in  which  they  can  contribute  most  to  the 
advancement  of  the  interests  of  the  land.  It  is  of 
national  import,  therefore,  that  we  should  give  heed 
to  the  problem  of  industrial  education.  We  should 
comprehend  and  apply  with  well-balanced  emphasis 
the  different  tasks  that  lie  before  this  great  company 
of  people  that  we  call  Americans. 

What  is  the  question  that  is  to-day  facing  France, 
England  and  Germany  ? Is  it  not  the  relation  of  public 
taxation  to  the  department  of  industry  and  commerce? 
There  is  no  fact  of  present  day  life  so  important  and 
noteworthy  as  the  place  which  Germany  has  taken  in 
the  commercial  life  of  the  world.  It  has  been  remarked 
so  often  it  has  become  trite  and  commonplace  and 


9 


unwelcome.  But  in  connection  with  the  subject  we  are 
considering  to-night  it  cannot  be  left  one  side.  Think 
of  the  position  of  Germany  forty  years  ago,  at  the 
close  of  the  Franco-German  war.  The  eyes  of  Ger- 
many were  turned  then  to  the  delicacy  and  artistic 
design  of  French  artisans,  and  on  the  other  hand  to 
the  finish  and  practical  value  of  English  products  and 
of  American  products.  Germany  was  forced  to  ac- 
knowledge, at  the  World’s  Fair,  that  her  goods,  set 
side  by  side  with  those  of  other  countries,  placed  her 
“out  of  the  running.”  Did  she  settle  back  on  her 
military  supremacy,  or  her  well-secured  literary 
leadership  and  scientific  leadership?  The  German 
went  home  and  established  schools  of  design  in  order 
that  there  might  be  beauty  in  the  work  of  his  hands, 
and  that  his  effort  might  produce  results  that  were 
fair  to  look  upon;  and  then  he  established  schools  for 
training  in  the  trades  that  his  work  might  have  qual- 
ity as  well  as  beauty.  He  opened  his  eyes  and  what 
has  been  the  result? 

In  these  forty  years  Germany,  from  being  a neg- 
ligible factor  in  the  world’s  commerce,  has  become  the 
most  troublesome  competitor  among  the  producing 
nations  of  the  world.  She  is  troublesome  because  of 
the  excellence  of  her  work,  because  of  the  fineness  of 
the  design,  and  because  of  the  perfection  of  the  finish, 
and  because  of  the  economic  adaptation  of  her  indus- 
tries. It  is  not  my  purpose  nor  my  right  to  rehearse 
in  your  hearing  more  about  the  advancement  of  indus- 
try in  Germany.  I desire  only  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  in  forty  years  from  being  considered  negligible 
in  commerce  she  has  come  to  the  front  of  the  world’s 
competitive  life  simply  because  she  has  provided  her- 
self means  for  educating  the  artisan,  and  it  is  the 


10 


success  of  her  undertaking  that  I desire  now  to 
emphasize. 

At  the  time  Germany  woke  up  to  the  importance  of 
this  question,  we  were  receiving  a very  large  number 
of  German  immigrants  and  we  regarded  them,  and 
do  regard  them  now,  as  probably  the  strongest  element 
that  has  entered  into  our  national  life  from  across 
the  ocean.  To-day  we  are  getting  no  more  immigrants 
from  Germany.  They  stay  a,t  home  and  work  because 
the  German  government  has  made  it  convenient  and 
attractive  to  them  to  stay  at  home;  they  provide  old 
age  pensions  and  other  things.  The  German  stays 
home  and  he  is  thoroughly  well  trained  at  home.  Suit- 
able schools  have  been  provided  for  his  thorough  edu- 
cation in  industrial  pursuits.  Now  if  we  are  regard- 
ful of  the  possibilities  of  national  development  and 
greatness  we  cannot  ignore  those  indications. 

We  had  immense  advantages  in  the  characteristics 
of  the  pioneer  Yankee.  We  have  seen  that  we  can 
no  longer  congratulate  ourselves  on  these  advantages. 
We  have  seen  that  a nation  once  regarded  as  sluggish 
has  forged  steadily  to  the  front,  and  what  are  we  going 
to  do  about  it?  We  must  find  some  equivalent  for  that 
former  versatility  and  energy  and  efficiency  in  the 
future  plans  for  the  education  of  to-morrow. 


11 


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